The use of a selection unit for automatic milking: consequences for cow behaviour and welfare

Ketelaar de Lauwere, C.C., 1992: The use of a selection unit for automatic milking: consequences for cow behaviour and welfare. Prospects for automatic milking Proceedings of the international symposium on prospects for automatic milking, Wageningen, Netherlands, 23-25 November, 1992: 270-277

The use of a selection unit developed to control cows' visits to an automatic milking system was studied. Two types of selection were compared: during passive selection the cows could decide themselves whether to visit the selection unit; during active selection the cows had to visit it, as the only route from the lying area to the feeding area was via this unit. Passive and active selection were compared in 3 trials with 20 HF x FH cows in each.